Las Vegas, Born and Raised
by Laurially
Summary: Or, the time Team Arrow see another side of Felicity Smoak. Eventual Olicity. Tommy lives AU.
1. Chapter 1

**So, I wrote the first part of this out on my iPad, therefore it's probably littered with mistakes, but I don't have my laptop with me right now, so this will have to do.**  
**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of it's characters.**

**x**

"So, word on the street is, you're doing some business in Vegas" Tommy calls as he hops down the stairs of Verdant, holding the rails so he can skip every other step.

"Yes, Tommy, we are. For business." Oliver responds, giving his friend a pointed look. "Not to go out, get drunk and gamble away the family fortune."

"Dude, it's almost a whole week. Surely you can squeeze some time in for it, somewhere." He whines, flopping down in a seat beside Felicity, who's been listening to the exchange with an amused smile on her face. "Back me up here, Smoak."

"Hey, leave me out if this." She tells him, though her tone is light and teasing; personally, she wouldn't mind Tommy tagging along. Actually, she would much rather he go instead of her.

"Oh, come on, Lis. You want me there and you know it." Tommy rolls his chair closer to hers as a charming grin spreads across his face.

"If you're so keen, how about you take up my job as Oliver's EA for the week, that way we both get what we want." Felicity offers, leaning her cheek on her palm as she turns her head to look at him.

"what do you mean?" He asks, one eyebrow raised.

"You want to go to Vegas, I do not." Is her simple reply. She turns her attention back to the screens in front of her and continues typing out the very long piece of code she'd been working on.

"You're not coming, Tommy." Oliver's voice chips in, and the man in questions spins his chair around to look at his friend.

"Oh, come on, man. I won't get in the way of your work. It's just been such a long time since we did anything fun, ya know?" Tommy takes on this sad look, making him look every bit a kicked puppy.

"I vote he comes." Felicity says, taking pity on the man, as she spins her own chair around to face the little group.

"And I second it." Comes Diggle's voice as he makes his way towards them from the training mats, slipping a shirt on over his head before gratefully accepting the bottle of water Felicity holds out to him.

"Fine, whatever." The vigilante grumbles, turning away from the group to sharpen his arrows.

Tommy's face instantly lights up in a smug grin, and he celebrates by spinning his chair around in two full circles, both arms raised in victory above his head. Felicity laughs at his antics as the man finally comes to a stop and gives her a beaming grin.

"Hey, I wanna go, too!" Roy complains, heading over from the same direction as Digg had earlier emerged from. He moves towards Felicity's desk to retrieve a water bottle of his own before jumping up to sit on the cool surface, putting himself on the opposite side to Felicity fromTommy.

"Yeah, so do I," Sara adds, approaching the group with a towel around her neck.

"No. Not a chance. We need people here to take care of arrow business. People will start asking questions if we all disappear at the same time as the vigilante." Oliver responds, quickly, turning around to face his team again.

"But, you're letting Tommy go!" Roy retorts, his tone resembling that of a small child.

"I said no." Queen growls, "End of discussion."

"Sara has to come; if she doesn't, I'll be the only girl stuck with you three for a week, no offence. And if Sara comes, it would be unfair to leave Roy behind, so he's coming, too." Felicity states, seriously, "You owe me this much for forcing me to go back there, so you're just going to let it happen and get over it."

Oliver stands, staring at her with his mouth agape in shock, whilst Tommy, Roy and Sara 'woop' and cheer around her. John's laugh echoes through the room as he pats Oliver's shoulder, giving him a smirk and a raised eyebrow that clearly says 'this is happening whether you like it or not.'

An exasperated sigh escapes his lips, but Oliver nods his head, anyway, finally giving in to his friends demands. The sound of their excited cheering bounces around the room as Oliver turns away from them, making sure no one can see his face before he lets the tiniest of smiles show through.

Oliver, Tommy and Diggle sit togethr in the airport, having already checked in at the desk, they are now just waiting on the rest of their friends to arrive so they can head to their gate.

Just as Digg is about to try calling Felicity _again_, the large glass doors slide open and in she walks, followed by Sara, Roy and-

"Nope. No. No way in Hell." Oliver says quickly, jumping to his feet when he sees his sister coming up at the rear of the group.

"Oh, come on, Ollie! I'm already here now." The young girl points out, pulling her suitcase so it's sitting beside her.

"No, Speedy. Go home." He replies sternly, staring down at Thea.

"Mom said I could come." She reasons, sticking her lower lip out in a pout, "And I have a plane ticket."

"And where exactly do you plan on staying?"

"Roy's room." Thea replies, shrugging her shoulders.

"Ha! There is no way that's happening!" The elder Queen scoffs, briefly averting his gaze to Roy so he can throw a glare his way.

"Fine, then." Thea huffs, then shifts so she's facing the other two women in the group, "Can I stay with you two?"

Felicity and Sara look at each other, allowing slow smiles to spread over both of their faces.

"Of course." Felicity replies, nodding at the younger Queen. All three women turn on Oliver, then, with raised eyebrows.

"Fine, _fine._ We're all going to Vegas." Oliver exclaimed, throwing his arms up above his head before he allows them to fall limply by his sides, "Where exactly _are _you girls staying, anyway."

"I have a place." Felicity answers, in what the group views as a vague response, but Felicity seems to think it's enough.

"So, you guys need to go check in." Tommy says, finally, nodding his head towards the desk.

"Felicity, where's your bag?" Digg inquires, as he moves forward with the intention of hrlping with the luggage.

"I just have a carry on." She responds, caually.

"You do realise we'll be there for five nights, right, blondie?" Roy queried, dumfounded.

"Of course I do."

"Okay then," Tommy claps, "let's go."

An hour spent waiting in the airport and a 43 minute plane journey later, the group are touching down in Las Vegas.

**x**

**Originally, this was going to be posted as a part of my Olicity one shots, but then it started getting a lot longer than I'd originally intended, so I decided to post it as it's own story. Let me know what you think so far! Thanks for reading x**


	2. Chapter 2

**The response to this story has been incredible and I can not thank you all enough! You would not believe how happy it's made me. I mean, seriously; a hundred followers for the first thousand words? That's just ridiculous! Thank you so, so much!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow, nor do I own it's characters. This chapter mentions the 'Cosmopolitan Hotel' in Vegas which I have no connection to, nor have I ever been.**

**x**

"Okay, so everybody's got their bags; can we go find a cab now, please?" Thea whines, having long since gotten impatient of waiting around in the airport.

Tommy takes the lead, guiding the group towards the large exit doors of McCarran International airport, dragging a large, black, desinger suitcase behind him. He saunters on looking all too pleased with himself, already planning all the outrageous thing's he's going to do with his friends on this trip - whether they like it or not.

Thea bobs along behind him, Roy at her side, with a skip in her step. She doesn't even bother trying to hide her immense excitement; a wide, beaming smile is spread across her face and her fingers are bouncing at her sides impatiently. The handle of the red case she brought is encased in Roy's hand as he pulls along both it and his own, but she carries in her own hand a bright, blue handbag.

Sara and Felicity follow behind them, both with heels clacking against the shining white floors. The Lance sister is the only one of the two women who'd checked in a bag, but still it's small; the trained assassin having become accustomed to packing light and making the most of what she has. Though she conceals it well, Sara, too, feels a profound amount of enthusiasm as she thinks about the next few days.

Too much time she has spent travelling, running, always jumping from one place to the next, always alone. Never before has she made that leap with the people she loves, not since the Gambit went down. Somehow, it makes everything different, better, because she knows that, when it's over, she can return home with these people, with her family.

Oliver and Diggle bring up the rear, neither feeling quite as enthused as the younger members of their group, but there is a certain appeal to the idea of finally taking a break and spending their nights having fun - even if Vegas casinos wouldn't be either's first choice of setting.

Memories from days long gone resurface in Oliver's mind; nights spent drinking and gambling with Tommy at his side, chasing down woman after woman. Days before the island when he was young and carefree and stupid. That Oliver - Ollie - would have jumped at the chance to go to Vegas with his friends, but he's not that man anymore, he's not anything he used to be.

Felicity, though, sweet Felicity feels even worse about this little venture than even he. Ever since Oliver first told her the destination of their little trip, a pool of dread had been forming in her stomach, growing and growing with every passing second as their departure came closer.

Because if Oliver Queen thought he had a lot of history in Las Vegas, well, he had nothing on Felicity Smoak. It hadn't all been bad, of course, but there were certain things she'd rather keep buried; aren't there always? She has a history there, a history she doesn't talk about, doesn't think about. Again, for the thousandth time, Felicity finds herself wondering why the past always insists upon merging with the present.

"We're going to be waiting around for ages." Tommy whines, having finally walked out of the doors and into the open, only to find a huge crowd of people waiting for taxis.

The group disperse to come up on either side of him, forming one long line as they stand on the concrete ground. They shouldn't be surprised by the sheer number of people there, though, as they had flown in to Vegas on a Friday.

"Fantastic. This is just fantastic." Thea grumbles, taking her suitcase from her boyfriend's hand. She pushes down on the handle until it sinks into the bag and then sits down on it. Roy follows her example, turning his own bag into a make shift seat, and grabs her hand.

Just as everyone comes to accept they'l have a long wait ahead of them, a short man climbs out of a large cab and makes his way towards them. He has a full head of dark hair and faint lines on his pale face. The sleeves on his white button down are rolled up to his elbows, the hem of the shirt hanging loose out of a dark pair of jeans. A bright smile adorns his face as he moves.

"Felicity?" He asks, once he's standing a few feet infront of the seven friends.

"Earl? Hi." The blonde responds cheerily, stepping forward to greet the man.

"Look at you, beautiful as ever." Earl pulls her into a tight hug, both arms tight around her middle as her cheeks tinge a dark shade of red, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to town, sweet heart?"

"I haven't told anyone." She tells him, pulling back from the older mans hold as she does, "But, I'm glad I bumped into you; I've missed you, Earl."

"Well, of course you have, darling, just look at me - no one can stay away for too long." Felicicty lets out a hearty laugh and beams at the taxi driver, "Come on, I've got the minivan today; plenty of room for you and your friends, here."

"Oh, thank gosh!" Thea hollers, lifting herslef quickly onto her feet, "You, sir, are a God send."

Laughter carries through the air from both the Starling City residents and Earl, though Oliver's lips remain sealed as he eyes this new man warily, wondering how Felicity came to know him. Not from school, obviously; the guy must be at least twenty years her senior.

As well as the fact that he's never heard her mention an 'Earl', though, come to think of it, Oliver doesn't think he's heard anything about Felicity's life outside of work - both Arrow and QC related - over the time they'd known each other.

Despite his caution, he follows thee group as they're lead towards a white minivan parked with the row of taxis lined up beside the curb, and throws his bags in the boot when it's open.

Felicity takes the passenger seat up front while everyone else pile into the back, Roy, Thea and Tommy occuping the middle row, whilst Oliver, Digg and Sara take to the back.

"Where to?" Earl asks, turning his head to adress his passengers.

"The Cosmopolitan, please." Oliver answers.

"Ooh, fancy."

Chatter erupts in the car as they ride smoothly along the tarmac, and Thea lets out an excited squeal as they pass the 'Welcome to the Fabulous Las Vegas' sign, accompanied by Tommy's loud cry of 'Vegas baby!'.

The drive to the hotel is short and within minutes they're pulling up outside the gigantic building. For Tommy and Oliver, seeing a being so close to a place like this is nothing new, but the rest of the car's occupants stare up at the tall structure in awe, mouths hanging agape.

"Thank you." Diggle says to their driver, as he and the other boys extract themselves from the vehicle. Earl follows them out to help with their bags and the girls are left alone in the car.

Thea goes to undo her seatbelt, but Felicity's hand reaching back to touch her arm stops her.

"Are we not staying here, too?" The young woman asks, feeling slightly disappointed at the prospect at not getting to go inside the luxury hotel.

"No, unfortunately, but we're not far from here."

"Text us when you boys get settled in." Sara says, before reaching forward to slide the large door of the cab closed.

"To your place, Smoak?" Earl asks as he climbs back into the drivers seat, already beginning to pull the car away and back into traffic.

"Yeah," Felicity sighs, "to my place."

"Miss Smoak, what a pleasure it is to see you." A skinny man at the front desk greets.

The three women had just walked into a beautiful building just a couple of minutes away from the Cosmopolitan. It didn't have the same bright lights and five star feel to it as the hotel had, but there was something about it that still screamed luxury.

"The pleasure's all mine, Mr. Reeves." She replies, gliding past him on her way to the elevators, Sara and Thea hot on her heels.

She hit's the button for the nineteenth floor as the doors slide closed and they begin their ascent. The lift is in the very corner of th building, two of it's walls made of clear glass, overlooking the city as it rises away from the ground.

"Is this an apartment building?" Sara asks, finally, as they near their destination.

"Yes." Felicity replies, simply, looking out at a view she hasn't seen for a long time.

"Do you- do you have a place here?" Thea turns to stare at the blonde.

"I do." She tells her, just as a ding sounds and the wooden doors slide open.

"Why?" Sara inquires, stepping out of the lift after the other two women.

"I used to live here." Felicity responds, leading them towards a white door at the end of a long hallway with '19D' painted in gold upon it.

From her purse, she pulls a small, rusted bronze key and slips it into the keyhole, unlocking the door with ease. It swings open with a creak to reveal a sight that shocks both women who stand behind her.

"You live here?" Sara gasps, taking her first step onto the beautiful wooden floor.

A glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, casting light over blue walls adorned with framed photographs. It's elegant but simple, and fits in with Felicity's personality perfectly. Bright colours are splashed over everything in the room and it looks like it shouldn't work, but, somehow, it does.

"So, there's three bedrooms, both down that corridor," She points over to the left corner of the room, "just the one bathroom, though, on the same corridor. That's the kitchen and this is the living room." She motions to the space around them with one hand.

"Wow, it's beautiful," Sara says, her eyes roaming around the surrounding space, "Where should we put our stuff?"

"Come on, I'll show you the bedrooms." Felicity smiles, before making her way towards the back of the room, her guests following close behind.

They stop in the space between two blue doors and Felicity turns back to face the other women.

"Take your pick."

**x**

"This place is huge." Roy says, wandering through the hotel behind the three older men.

"You'll get used to it, kid." Tommy replies, slowing his steps a little so he can throw an arm around the teen's shoulders.

"I disagree. And don't call me kid."

"Whatever you say, kid." Tommy winks, laughing, before moving back to his position on Oliver's left side.

Roy grumbles to himself as he continues to follow them, lugging his small suitcase behind him. He didn't bring much - not that he had all that much to bring, anyway - so he was feeling a little intimidated by the fairly large bags a bell boy had taken from his friends. The same guy offered to take his, but, having lived in the Glades, Roy has learnt to keep his stuff to himself.

When they reach the elevators, Oliver hits the call button, and within seconds the shiny, gold doors are sliding open. All four men step in and turn so they are facing the doors, and, this time, Tommy reaches for the button, hitting the number '29' on the panel.

Silence passes over the group, the hum of the lift being the only sound as they ascends. A loud 'ding' broke through the quiet and the doors are opening again, revealing a corridor with black shiny floor and a long white rug lay down in the centre.

"Alright, Roy, you're with me." Diggle says, clapping the young man on his shoulder once before leading the way thrown the corridor.

Tommy and Oliver do the same, but on the other side of the hallway. They come to a stop outside the door opposite to Digg and Roy's.

With a final nod across the hall, both door's are opened, and their occupants take the first step inside.

"Pretty sweet, huh?" Digg chuckles at the shell shocked look on his roommates face.

Roy walks further into the room, stepping out onto the large balcony before returning a moment later with a confused look on his face.

"I though the Eiffel Tower was in France."

**x**

**This was more of a filler chapter than anything just to get something posted, the next one will be better. Thank you again for all of your support with this story, it means the world to me! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it's taken me so long to get an update up for this story, but - despite being out of school, currently - I don't have as much time as I would like to write. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter - I don't really have a clear plan of how it's going to go, so please bear with me.**

**Also, I feel I should mention that this isn't beta'd, so all mistakes are mine, and that I have never been to Vegas, nor am I American, so please excuse any mistakes in that area of things, too.**

**x**

"So, where do you guys fancy going tonight? Casino, bar, _strip club_?" Tommy asked, flopping down lazily into one of the armchairs in Oliver and he's room, within which all four men were gathered.

"A strip club?" Digg snorted, "I'd never set foot in one of those places and if I did Lyla would have my head."

"She wouldn't have to find out," Tommy retorted, lounging back in his seat with his feet propped up on the table, a mischhevious smile pulling at his lips.

"Trust me, she would find out."

"What about you guys?" He asked, turning his grin on Roy and Oliver.

"You are aware that I have a girlfriend who is in Vegas with us, right?" Roy responded, raising a curious eyebrow at Merlyn.

Tommy sighed, but was determined not to let himself be knocked off his pursuit of a fun filled trip.

"That just leaves us, Oliver. What do you say, you and me, hitting up a club like the old days?"

He knew it was a long shot; Oliver wasn't the same guy he used to be, whether that was for the better, Tommy still wasn't sure. Plus, there was the matter of a certain perky blonde girl who his best friend had been clinging to like a lost, love sick puppy.

"Not going to a strip club, Tommy."

The dark haired man simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled, taking the answer he recieved as a win. It wasn't a flat out no, which is what he had expected from the playboy turned vigilante, so he was starting to feel a little more optimistic about the week ahead.

"Fine, whatever. We're in _Vegas_, I'm sure there's some slightly less sleazy fun to be had around here." His hands clapped once infront of him as he pushed himself even further back into his seat - right to the point where he lost his footing on the table and began to tip over, findind himself and the chair sprawled over the white carpets.

**x**

"So, I really don't mean to be rude, but how can you afford this place?" Thea asked, looking up from her toe nails to the girl sitting on the other end of the couch.

"I used to count cards in the casinos around here, made quite the sum of money doing it. By the time I was seventeen, a couple friends and I had pooled together enough money to buy the place." Felicity responded, still weary to share too much information about herself.

"Seventeen?" Sara piped up, staring at her friend, "Weren't you still in high school? And how did you get into a casino?"

"I was a couple years ahead, so I graduated early. As for the casinos, the staff knew I was underage, but they let it slide for me."

Thea placed her bottle of blue nail polish down on the white, wooden table and turned her full attention to Felicity, intrigued by the path the conversation was taking.

"They just _let it slide_ for you?" She asked, bringing her feet up onto the soft couch cushions, being extra cautious of her wet nails.

"I, uh, grew up around here, a lot of them have known me since I was a little kid." Felicity explained.

She squirmed under the gaze of her two closest girl-friends, very aware that she was sharing more about herself and her history than she had planned to. Though, she found it wasn't as difficult as she'd first expected. Of course, she still wasn't planning on spilling all the details, but little pieces of information here and there couldn't do too much damage, _right?_

"You grew up in _Vegas_?" Thea looked taken aback, with both eyebrows headed towards her hairline.

Felicity looked down at her lap where she was fidgeting with her hands. Suddenly, she felt like she was being judged and that maybe she'd let the conversation go on too far, said too much.

Sara, though, seemed to pick up on her friend's discomfort - just as she picks up on everything else, because, _hello_, _trained assassin_ \- and decided it was time to jump in.

"So, does this mean you know all the best places to go?"

With a grateful smile towards the other blonde, Felicity slipped easily into a rant about how, _yes_, she did, and began describing in detail a burger joint nearby that could rival big belly itself.

If Thea noticed the twist in discussion, she didn't show it, but simply listened with unwavering focus to Felicity's tangent, chipping in questions now and then about where she could go to buy shoes.

**x**

"Lissy!" Tommy greeted excitedly as he opened the door to his hotel room and found the blonde standing on the other side, "I didn't expect to see you here, but I can't say I'm that surprised to find you sneaking into my suite. Was it my infinite charm or dashing good looks that brought you here?"

Felicity rolled her eyes at him with a heavy sigh, but there was a smile pulling at the corner of her lips and that told them both it was in good nature.

"We've just been to get a rental car, and I've been sent up to see if you boys want to come shopping."

"Well, it would be rude of us to leave you ladies out there without an escort." He grinned cheekily at her.

"Don't worry, plenty of those in Vegas." She muttered, to which Tommy first began to sputter and then laughed rather loudly, drawing the attention of the room's other occupants.

Felicity stood in the doorway blushing as she realised she'd spoken the words aloud. When the three other men appeared at Tommy's back, she was still flushed, he was still laughing and they all looked rather confused.

"Oh, hey, Felicity." Roy smiled upon seeing her.

Before she could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps sounded from her left and when she looked over, she found a reather impatient looking brunette stomping towards them.

"What's taking so long?" The young Queen demanded, stomping her foot for emphasis in a gesture resembling a small child.

"Tommy's shamelessly flirting and it's steering things off topic." Felicity replied, easily, smirking up at Tommy as she shifted the blame to him.

"Can you please hurry up, I _reeeaaalllyyy _want to go to that dress store you told me about." Thea's voice took on a slightly whining edge to it as she pleaded with her friend.

"Don't worry, we'll get there," Felicity chided, rolling her eyes before turning her attention back to the boys, "So, shopping; you coming?"

"I'm in," Tommy beamed, "Anything to get out of this hotel for a bit."

"Great, then move it along, now," Thea urged, tapping her foot against the floor, "Roy, are you coming, babe?"

Felicity almost laughed as she realised that up to that point, the youngest of the men had been attempting to move slowly out of view and avoid being dragged into the mini shopping spree. Now that he'd been called out personally, though - by his girlfriend, no less, his _Thea Queen _of a girlfriend - there was simply no getting out of it.

As Roy sighed, but nodded, moving to follow Tommy out of the room, and Felicity almost felt sorry for him. _Almost_. She was far too amused by the situation to really feel much else about it.

"Ollie, Mr. Diggle?" Thea continued, turning her hard gaze onto her brother and his body guard.

"I actually have some QC related stuff I need to prepare for, Speedy," Oliver told her, "Which I could probably use Felicity's help for, if you can spare her."

"Oh, no, I am not giving up my friend and tour guide so that you can make the trip _boring_. You can have her later." Thea responded, looping her arm through the blonde's.

"Hey, I'm not a toy you can just trade around as you please." Felicity complained, but she was already being dragged away.

"Yeah, yeah, save it for the car, Sara's waiting."

**x**

"So, tour guide, huh?" Tommy asked, wiggling his eyebrows and bumping his shoulder against Felicity's as they made their way from the car towards a long road of shops.

The blonde rolled her eyes at her friend, but continued moving.

"I'm from around here." She replied, continuing to lead the group on their path.

"Wow, did _not_ have you pegged as a Vegas girl," Tommy stated, and Felicity thought that was the end of it until an obvious glint appeared in his eyes, "Although, now that I think about it, I can totally picture it..."

Sara scoffed on Felicity's other side, but a little laugh escaped under her breath along with it.

"Thea," Felicity began, turning her head a little to address the girl behind her, "That dress shop you wanted to see is just over there."

"_Dress shop_?" Roy demanded, though it came out as more of a scared whine.

"Show me the clothes." Thea said simply, looping her arm through her boyfirend's as she began to quicken their pace.

Tommy, Sara and Felicity could only laugh at the terrified expression on the young man's face. Even as they approached the glass door that would take them into the boutique, the trio were still finding the humour in the situation, making childish jokes and giggling quietly.

Felicity stopped laughing, though, as soon as her feet hit the dark, wooden floor. She stopped altogether, in fact. Her feet refused to move, her eyes unblinking, even her breath caught in her throat for a moment as she stared on.

The others complained as they crashed into her back, trying to get her to move out of the way so they could enter, but Felicity stayed stuck in her spot.

Finally, they stopped trying to get around her and instead started asking questions, looking for any kind of response.

"You okay, there?" Tommy asked.

"Cutie, what's wrong?" Sara.

"Fee?" Thea

"_Felicity_?" Roy called, loudly, attracting the attention of the few other customers in the little store.

Including one particular woman who stood about five feet in front of them. A woman in her mid forties, with blonde hair and a very short red dress, paired with six-inch black heels.

"Felicity, baby?" She asked, moving towards the group quickly.

"Mom."

**x**

**I just had to bring Donna in, especially after last night's episode which was amazinggggg. Kick ass Felicity gives me life.**

**I am so so so so so so so so sorry this took me so long, I really can't believe I put it off for so long! I know it's not much, and It's **_**definitely**_** not perfect, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one will be up faster, I promise.**

**Thank you for reading! Follow, favourite &amp; review if you like, or don't, whatever ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is long, **_**long, **_**overdue, and I am so sorry for that. I've had it typed up on my laptop for a few weeks, but then it started having problems and got sent away to get fixed, so this is the soonest I could possibly upload this chapter.**

**I really, really hope you all enjoy this installment and I'd like to thank you all for waiting so long for it.**

**V**

"Wait, did you just say _Mom_?" Thea shrieked, "As in, your _Mother_?"

Felicity stayed rooted to the spot, staring, mouth agape, at her scantily clad mother.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming home?" The older blonde asked, moving in closer to wrap slender around her daughter.

"It was a last minute type of thing." Felicity said, finally finding her voice, taking a step back from her mother's tight embrace.

A look passed over both Smoak's faces for a moment, a look that did not go unnoticed by their small audience, who dutifully stepped in to relieve the awkward tension.

"Hi, I'm Thea, Felicity's friend and all around favourite person." The young woman jumped in, holding her hand out eagerly.

Donna perked up immediately, side stepping to take the outstretched hand and shake it vigorously.

"I'm Donna, Felicity's mom. It's so nice to meet you - Lissy never lets me meet her friends."

"_Mom." _

Tommy grinned as he watched the exchange, before stepping forward to introduce himself, "Hi, I'm-"

"Tommy Merlyn, I know," Donna interrupted, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Ms. Smoak." He winked, earning him a hard slap on the chest from Felicity, accompanied by a quiet muttering of _'gross'._

Tommy beamed down at her.

"I'm sara," The blonde smiled, giving a small wave, "it's really lovely to meet you."

"Lovely to meet you, too, sweetheart." Donne grinned and Sara's own smile grew in response.

"This is Roy," Thea piped in, pushing her boyfriend forward, "he's more the strong silent type."

"And by that you mean he's shy, don't ya?" Donna stage whispered, earning her a light giggle and a nod from the young brunnette.

There was a lull in conversation for a moment before Felicity broke the silence abruptly.

"Well, Mom, as great as it is to see you, we are super busy and we're only in town for a few days - lots to do, not a lot of time to do it, you know? So, uh, I guess I'll call you, or youj can call me, whatever, just don't try and text me again because you're really not very good at it." She babbled, waving her hands around to emphasise her points.

The bright beam on Donna's face faded further and further as her daughter rambled, but she quickly replaced it when she had finished, desperate to hide her disappointment.

"Yes, of course; I'm being silly, holding you up like this. Make sure you go and see Joanne and the girls at the club before you leave," there was a long pause before she finished, "again."

Her smile was clearly forced and she made her exit hurriedly, throwing the dress she'd picked up over the closest railing and moving around the group to reach the door.

"It was nice meeting you." Thea called over her shoulder just before the door closed behind Felicity's mother.

"So..." Tommy started, "are we going to talk about that big pile of awkward?"

"There's nothing to talk about." Felicity responded, quietly, a note of finality in her voice.

Another moment of silence passed, unsure looks being shared throughout the group, before finally Sara broke it.

"You know, I don't really fell like shopping here, can we go somewhere else?"

She was met with quick approval from all angles, a welcome change in mood, before the five of them collectively turned to leave the little store, smiling awkwardly at an annoyed looking shop clerk.

**V**

_What did you think was going to happen, Felicity?_ She berated herself, _That you were just going to come home and manage to avoid your mother, the woman with a knack for popping up at the worst times? _

The most annoying part, though, is that she thought, _yes, _maybe she could. Just maybe she'd be able to steer her friends in such a way as to avoid Donna, but instead she'd gotten to wrapped up in actually enjoying herself and lost focus in this goal.

It was a worry she'd held onto since she first found out about the trip, an unwelcome and in some ways unwarrented fear of her two worlds colliding.

On the other hand, she thinks, after that terribly awkward encounter, maybe her worries weren't quite as unwarrented as some may think. Felicity completely rebuilt heerself after she packed her bags and headed to MIT, equipped with hair dye and a new personality.

Gone was the girl with frizzy brown hair and the cheapest glasses a one income household could buy. She'd promised herself that she'd never be those people again, not the struggling little girl or the rebellious college student, but she knew iit was only a matter of time before one of them caught up with her while she was back in the place it all started.

The longer she was here the more it would build, until the pressure grew too much and it all came out in a big, explosive, unstoppable way.

All she could do was wait for the bang.

**V**

"You would not believe who we met today." Tommy called as he walked into his and Oliver's shared room, having been dropped off at the hotlel by the girls. Roy trailed behind him, much less dramatically.

"Who?" Diggle asked, sitting up straighter on the couch as the young man flopped doown at the other end. Roy, though, chose to take the arm chair across from Oliver's, instead of filling the space left between the two on the couch.

"Felicity's _Mom._"

Oliver perked up immediately, taking a suddden interest in the conversation that he did not have moments before.

"You met her mother?" He asked, surprised.

Tommy rolled his eyes, head shaking, but a grin was spread broadly across his face.

"_Yes_, Oliver, that _is _what I just said. Are you familiar with the concept of a _mom_?" He teased.

Diggle saw his friend's jaw clench and the obvious irritation rising, so took the moment to take the conversation in a different direction.

"So, tell us about it."

**V**

"Let's not talk about it," Felicity sighed as she dropped own onto a chair, followed closely by Thea and Sara, who squished close on both sides, "please."

"But, Lis-" Thea started, whining slightly, her tone like that of a small child.

"Just for today, okay, can we _please_ forget it?" She begged, putting on her best and biggest puppy dog eyes.

"Forget about what?" Sara asked, "Now, tell me, do you have _Netflix_ in this place?"

**V**

**So, that was short and very filler-y, but hey, it's an update and I just really wanted to get something up. I'm sorry this is the update I've made you wait so long for, the next one will be better (no promises). **

**Thanks for sticking around, guys, and do let me know what you think if you feel like it. **


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